This invention relates generally to fluid sprinkling and more specifically to snow making towers for ski slopes.
More particularly, this invention pertains to improvements in snow making towers of the type disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,163, issued Nov. 1, 1994, for ADJUSTABLE SNOW MAKING TOWER. This patent discloses an adjustable snow making tower which includes a vertical ground support post that is anchored into the ground and has a tower support pole coaxially received on this ground support post for support of a snow tower for axial and horizontal rotation on the ground support post.
This prior art device includes a support arm that is pivotally connected intermediate its opposite ends to the upper end of the tower support post for pivotal movement substantially from horizontal to vertical. In turn, an elongated pipe snow making tower having air and water discharge nozzles at its upper end and air and water supply connections at its lower end, is secured at its lower end portion to this support arm for pivotal movement with the support arm in a vertical plane. This configuration permits fill adjustability in the horizontal and vertical planes.
A jack mechanism is provided between the support arm and the tower support pole to raise and lower the support arm along with its attached snow making tower to desired vertical positions.
Problems encountered with lean-out towers of this type is that to be effective such towers must be at least 20 feet high and therefore the pipe of which the tower is constructed must be heavy duty, four inches ID or greater. This is required in order to support the suspended weight of the tower itself and to further accommodate the relatively large thrusts applied to the tower by the discharge of air and water under pressure through the nozzles at the top of the tower.
In addition, maximum loft, throw and spreading of manufactured snow is not accomplished because the nozzles cannot be positioned at optimum angles when the tower is leaned outwardly over a ski trail.
Also, adjustable lean-out towers of the prior art require expensive and relatively heavy duty jack mechanisms to raise and lower the tower to desired vertical positions.
The present invention also pertains to improvements in the snow making tower disclosed in the above-referenced copending cross reference. While the invention disclosed therein has many needed advantages, it nevertheless illustrates a snow making tower structure which cannot be erected and raised with minimum physical effort and is provided with a support structure which is more expensive to manufacture than desired.
It is an object of the present invention to eliminate these aforedescribed disadvantages of the prior art snow making towers of the lean-out type.